Machi and Rein stepped onto the airship, and Hisoka stepped out, trying to catch the woman's gaze in a coy manner that didn't match his nature at all. She ignored the advances with a firm slam of the door, successfully separating herself and Rein from the likes of him. Of course—her gaze now landed on Lucky, sitting on the seat closest to the door—that left them alone with him instead.

Machi trusted Lucky had no ill intent. He just didn't seem like that kind of person, to mess around with or take advantage of anybody. If anything, he was more on the meek side in terms of dealing with people. It was just his aura was so destructive, with the suffocation and the crumbling buildings. She'd tried to convince Hisoka to leave him behind at Lingon, but he insisted, saying he would kill the captives and Rein if she refused to comply with his request. Thus, Lucky made his way onto the ship, much to her dismay.

So much could go wrong with him there. This was complicated machinery; if any one gear malfunctioned, it could instantly result in their doom. They were fortunate nothing had caught fire or spontaneously combusted on the way to the exchange.

Needless to say, she guided Rein to the seat that was as far away from him as possible. Though he tried to mask it, a brief shadow of hurt feelings showed on his face before he waved it away. Machi ignored it.

"So, Pinky," Lucky looked to Rein as well, and suddenly appeared perplexed. "Uh." He cleared his throat. "Red," he greeted.

Rein rubbed at her eyes, trying to rub away the scarlet.

Machi looked at her. Over the shouting and the realization that the chain user recognized Rein, she hadn't fully been able to pay attention, especially with the injured at her side. When had Rein started to cry? "Did you get," she didn't mention the tears specifically, "those when you were yelling?"

"The Chain User called him trash," Rein said, quiet. "He said that."

Machi nodded, and looked out the window. "Uvo wasn't the nicest person in the Troupe, and he definitely had his flaws." She paused for a moment. "But he wasn't a bad guy."

Even without turning her head to him, Machi could tell Lucky was observing them and listening in on the conversation, trying to piece things together. "So?" she said.

He jolted.

Her gaze tore directly through him. "You spoke to us, though with the wrong names. Did you have a question?"

"Uh," he said, recovering from being so suddenly called out. "How did the exchange go? You know, the one I wasn't invited to?" His expression deadened for a moment before it returned to normal. "What happened?"

Rein waved Lucky over to their window, unaware of the chaos he could cause. She pointed out Chrollo. "That's the leader of the Spiders."

"Danchou?"

Rein seemed surprised at the correct title he'd placed. "Yeah..."

She proceeded to explain the conditions the chain user had placed on his heart, how he wouldn't be able to interact with another one of the Troupe until he had gotten the Nen restriction removed. Hisoka was a traitor and not a real Spider, therefore Chrollo could interact with him. Hisoka was there for a fight, but wouldn't be able to get as he pleased. How tragic.

Lucky, still very confused, nodded along and pretended to understand. All this talk about Nen and using the real names of people instead of the nicknames he'd given them... his head was whirling trying to figure it all out.

Hisoka entered the airship, face strangely downcast. "Head back to the airport," he said offhandedly, sitting down and pulling out his phone. "I have no interest in broken toys."

Machi's fists tightened. "So Danchou's just a toy to you?"

Hisoka brought himself out of his self-pity to send her a flirty smile in affirmation.

Rein burned. "Traitor."

"Who, me?" He placed a finger in his chin in mock thought, sharp nail pressing into skin as it ran down his jaw. "How peculiar. The same could be said for you." Seeing this bothered her, he went on. "Imagine how Gon and Killua must have felt, with you turning their lives over to us. And Leorio, who you tried to kill, no less. I was never a Spider in the first place, so it can't really be said that I am a traitor. I never hurt anyone, did I? Whereas you—"

"Hisoka." Machi's tone was icy. "Shut up or I'll kill you."

Their gazes met, clashing with an intensity that Hisoka seemed to be drinking in.

Lucky stood and backed up toward the pilot's cabin. "I'm just going to tell the pilot that we should be heading back," he tried, awkward. The air in the room made him fidget. "I'll just go."

A few moments later, the rumbling hum of the engine starting vibrated the room. Hisoka broke eye contact with a smirk before pulling out his cards and fingering a four of hearts, trying to catch her eye again.

Machi kept her gaze very far away from him. If one could burst with hate, Machi believed she was about to. Her chest rose with fury as she went over every single thing Hisoka had done against the Spider all for his selfish wants and pleasures. He'd worked with the chain user, their enemy who killed Uvo. Nothing about avenging the limb lost, or even the preservation of the group. No, he wanted to fight, and as soon as he couldn't, he'd tried to guilt Rein over something he'd done. He did that often, blaming others for his own actions and manipulating them into thinking he was right. It was why years ago, their eighth member...

As of now, Machi was very content with Hisoka not getting as he wished.

A few minutes after they'd taken off toward the airport, Lucky burst in from the flying cabin, earning surprised looks from both Machi and Rein while Hisoka only appeared amused. Lucky held up a finger as he paused for breath. "Guys, don't panic but I may or may not have knocked the pilot unconscious."

All their eyes, including Hisoka's, went a twitch wider with alarm as realization dawned on them.

The ship, already flying high in the air, started to tip.

*     *     *

Lucky considered himself rather well at dealing with unforeseen circumstance.  As proof of this, Lucky still walked the earth with all his limbs intact. He could usually figure something out in a short amount of time to keep both himself and the others around him from dying. He was actually proud of the fact that he was able keep the irreversible from happening.

But Pinky was truly something else.

She'd burst into the cabin and shoved the pilot out of the chair, quickly taking control of the airship again. Pinky, who he'd only ever seen as cool and detached, screamed at him to sit down and not touch anything, then commanded the girl around to push this button and secure that lever, and drag the pilot into the main cabin and place him on a seat.

Somehow, they'd managed to make it back to Lingon, even if she did crash the airship on the runway. They made it out as fast as they could, Crop Top disappearing the moment their eyes left him. Looking at the sudden fire that had sprung up, she'd shrugged, and commented that flying an airship and landing one were two very different things.

With the look she gave him though, it was evident she blamed Lucky for everything that had gone wrong.

He didn't disagree.

As they'd left the pilot a safe distance away on the grass and departed, Lucky willingly walked back to the Phantom Troupe's base with the other two. There was no point in putting up a fight. They would only track him down again.

"So," Lucky said, looking at the girl. He just had to ask. "Who's Uvo, that you were talking about on the ship?" He felt Pinky glaring at him.

She balked at the sudden question. Slowly, he saw her hand press against her own heart, gripping and twisting the shirt above it as her knuckles shook. Her look was darkened, and though it was hard to see in the night, he could tell she was trying to hide it best she could.

"You okay?" he asked.

She blinked quickly in place of nodding. "He was one of us."

He bent down, questioning. "Did he... Is he...?"

"Yes," she answered with her voice curt and tight, and sped up her pace so her face wouldn't be within his line of sight. This did not go as planned, seeing as her short eleven-year-old legs took very short strides in comparison to the strides his tall lanky figure took.

A hand stopped him short, and the girl was able to keep walking ahead. "Two days ago." the woman's grip tightened. "It was two days ago. Don't bring it up."

Lucky nodded numbly, and they walked on. Only two days? He'd only seen the girl with tears once, and even then, they were confined to her burning red eyes. Even now, it was all pulled back.

As they approached closer to base, his senses became hyper-sensitive. The night was dark, but the clouds in the sky were a smoky gray, the moon blindingly bright. During the day, the base had smelled like dust, but now, it smelled like a knife; cold, sharp. It felt so strange, and he felt so little in the open air, and the darkness itself sent tingles across his skin. The taste... he felt foolish, but the night tasted like berries, dark, juicy, boysenberries. And the sound—

As soon as they heard gunshots, Machi took their wrists and sprinted faster than she ever had before.

*     *     *

There are a lot of things in the world one can regret.

Pakunoda also had her fair share of such. In the past, she'd made mistakes. Some of which hurt others, others she knew. At the time, she'd thought she was doing the right thing, when in reality her feelings were only getting in the way. Her emotions got in the way of serving the Spider. She tried to never make those mistakes again, but doubts still filled her mind. Was letting Machi go alone with the captives and Rein truly for the Spider, or were her feelings interfering again? She wasn't sure whether that choice had been right. She'd always been one to overthink, over-analyze, to perceive things differently whether that be for the bad or good. She'd always questioned herself.

But now, as Pakunoda stood with her gun cocked, she knew, without a doubt in her heart: This was the right decision.

Quick pulls on the trigger made her gun burn. This had been the right decision.

She was ready, she was. Her heart twisted and convulsed, strangled as she started to fall back to the ground. It hurt, hurt a lot. But that was okay. She was ready for it all—

"Paku!"

She caught sight of Rein's outstretched hand, and the horror-stricken face from beyond that as her head tilted back. Wait—

*     *     *

Just like last time, she couldn't look away.

"Pa..." Stars, moving her lips hurt. "Paku."

Rein always tried to step away from seemingly dead bodies if she could. Now? Her legs moved on their own, surprisingly strong and steady for the pit churning in her stomach. Just because she looked... just because... it didn't mean... she can't have been the same as Uvo. There was no blood, no bruises, no nothing. Rein crouched down at her side, observing before slowly reaching up to her neck to check for a pulse.

She was Paku, nothing more. The same hooked nose and light makeup, the same pale and silky hair that Rein had always admired, the same calloused hands from repeatedly polishing her pistol. She wasn't like Uvo, whom Rein could barely recognize after his beating. No blood. No bruises. No broken soul. No, she was fine...

Her fingers landed on Paku's warm skin, their first contact since the chain had been placed on Rein's heart. First contact, and Rein was still alive, which meant Paku's Hatsu was not active. Which meant... no. Rein shook her head clear. Don't think.

Her hand on the woman's neck, Rein waited. And waited. She stood by for a pulse, but none came. Underneath her fingertips, she could feel the heat leave Paku, her skin cooling and cooling. Colder and colder. "No." Her steady hand finally shook before stabling once. Don't think. Then her entire body shook, and she couldn't get it to still no matter how hard she tried. She tried, she did. But her body just shook. Don't think. But she shook and shook and shook and—Rein's heart rattled in her chest so suddenly she flinched. Chains? She waited for the chains to rattle and constrict. She held her breath, but she remained alive. Right. She was alive. Rein was alive.

But...

No, don't think!

But the evidence was there.

Shakily, she pressed a palm to Paku's chest. A slight concave. A very still dent where her heart was. (Was it just her imagination?) Where it should have been... it was still. So still. And getting colder and colder. She lowered her head.

She'd wanted to hug Pakunoda before, just get a single touch of her surprisingly comforting self. Just a touch... but not like this. Not like this.

The room was eerily quiet, which made her cries seem all the more deafening.

*     *     *

They all cringed, whether they showed it or not. Some grit their teeth, others shut their eyes. But all of them remained, holding firm their ground. They didn't leave, no matter how loud the girl cried. This wasn't to say that no one else wasn't affected. After they experienced Pakunoda's memory bomb, they stood there, not quite knowing how to react.

It was by no means their first experience with death. Most had seen a comrade die before their very eyes. But somehow, this was different. It had been a long time, and here someone was, actually in painful mourning that they had to witness.

It... it kind of hurt.

Shizuku was the first to move. She reached toward Paku's neck for confirmation, and Rein made no move to stop her. "She's dead," she announced, pulling back her hand.

Phinks took a step forward at her utterly stupid bluntness, about to give Shizuku a piece of his mind and maybe a taste of his fist. But as she turned around, Phinks stopped short.

The hand she'd used to feel for Paku's pulse was balled up tightly against her chest. Her wide eyes that seemed even wider behind her glasses were a bit glassier than normal, and as her eyes moved the reflecting light swam in them. Her figure, as drawn into herself as the straightforward, brutally honest, indifferent Shizuku could get.

"Hey, Shizuku," Phinks said. She wasn't crying, not like Rein. But with the magnification through her glasses, it was obvious her eyes were clouded over.

"She's dead," Shizuku repeated, and clutched her hand closer to her chest. "I... I didn't want Paku to die." Her expression, usually so devoid, was dark. "I don't like this. I don't like this."

Phinks' throat was dry when he tried to answer. "Yeah. None of us do."

Rein cried, loudly. Everything she'd bottled up and held in in front of Gon, Killua, Leorio, and most of all the Chain User, it all came spilling out in a rapid succession, piling on top of the others and growing. Her tears fell on Paku's skin, but the latter didn't move to brush them away and tell her all would be alright, that Rein would pull through. Paku just lay there, still.

She cried, because that was Paku on the ground, Paku. Because no matter how much she could convince Machi to try, nothing would change. She could try and slice open her chest, she could try and fix her heart, she could even try to give it a pulse, but Machi couldn't do that. None of them could do anything. Rein hadn't even been there.

Stars, she didn't know what her last words or thought had been, she didn't know, and she wished she had. Maybe if she'd just run, maybe if she'd just walked a little bit faster, they would've been here on time. Maybe if Rein had actually stopped to think things through, or maybe questioned the Chain User, she could've known something. Something to help. If all she'd done was try, it would all be different. She should've tried. It would all be so different, but she hadn't tried, and things weren't different, and—

—Stars.

Rein's eyes were transfixed on the open dome, the stained glass against the night sky. The stars were so pretty. The stars.

Paku's lids were slightly open, droopy eyes facing toward the stars above. Rein lifted her hand again to close the slivers that had been left open, but she paused before reconsidering and slumping to her knees. She wouldn't take away her last sight. Rein went silent for a few moments, and looked up again.

She and Paku stared at the stars together.

They were beautiful, weren't they?

After the brief silence, Rein lowered her head once more, crying tears that didn't seem to stop. Her heart hurt so much she almost thought she'd done something to make the chains act. But it didn't feel like a blade. It just ached. It crawled up her throat and nose and eyes and even her ears and... stars, why?

All the Spiders stood, frozen as if they were the ones who couldn't move. All, except for one.

Feitan tilted his head away from the sight.

Back during the attack on the Kurta Clan, Feitan thought tears... The Scarlet Eyes, considered one of the elitist colors in the world, shone brighter, bigger, better with tears. Emotion activated the red hue and pain enhanced it. It had been a fact back then and it still was now, that Scarlet Eyes in mourning and suffering were beautiful.

But on Rein, they just looked ugly.

:D
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